Rock Reading Tuesdays

Hello Rock Reading enthusiasts,

Boy do I have a treat for you guys this week I have one band that I want to highlight for this week, every single song off any album made is worth a listen. This band lyrically and musically connects with their audience in a way I have yet to see in any other band and have slowly gained popularity. The way how they make music is brilliant and unique in a way that I have not heard before, their sound is unique to them and them alone. While they get their inspiration from many different artists its safe to say they have not copied their sound.

This wonderful band is AJR, they are a Pop, Rock, Alternative band, their music is a constant mixture of different genres and sounds. It is almost wrong to put them in a category, but for you guys I will. Their newest song Way less sad off of their latest album speaks about what a crazy year we have all had. Their message throughout the song is that while things are still not the greatest, we are still better off than we where we are. We are Way less sad than we were this time last year that is why this song is great to listen to when you need help seeing the brighter side to life.

Their song Weak speaks about being weak, and is a great way to remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with having your weaker moments. This song gives listeners the ability to find strength in their lows, it plainly states “But I’m weak and what’s wrong with that?” which is the hook of the song. Those words in the chorus are what listeners will remember about the song the most, because of the question it poses.

Another song that shows their artistry is their song Overture is a preview mashup of all their songs off of their album The Click. It fuses all the different songs and flavors their album brings to the listener. This shows us how well they are able mix their own sounds to create their own masterpiece.

Everyone must give them a listen, share this with your friends, your younger siblings, your older siblings, and anyone else you can think of. This band is awesome, their newest album releases March 26th. Go check it out!

See you all next week!

Thomas Benke: Looking Around In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong. She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible. By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that.

Rock Reading Tuesdays

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Need help with the Commons?

You May Also Like

Confessions of a Character Freak

The Basics Part 2: Mojo Criollo

80 miles From Charlotte #MurderMysteryMonday

Leave a Reply Cancel reply